Monthly Archives: November 2010

Not leaving the house a lot certainly gave me a lot of time to knock out some projects. For example, I finally have a new winter robe:The fabric is flannel; I think the print gives the whole thing a sort of Victorian (Holmesian) dressing gown feel.

I used a pattern from the early 70s because I liked the collar and the fact that it was a little more tailored than a standard bathrobe.And look–I’m knitting, too! This is the top of a pullover that’s using yarn I already have. The yarn basket was getting way too full so I’m making myself finish this before I start anything new.Lots of family talking time = lots of knitting time. I really enjoy being a knitter during the holidays.

I left the house twice in five days this holiday weekend. I love staying home, but there’s something to be said for going to a job where there are other humans: Friday I caught myself worrying that Toby doesn’t go to school (no, don’t know where that came from) and Saturday I thought, “If I just don’t watch the last two episodes of Doctor Who, then the Doctor and Rose can still be together!”

I think if I were ever to freelance from home I’d have to belong to a gym, or a knitting club, or a book club–just something to remind me that people use words to talk, not meows.

I get a weekly newsletter from the yoga studio that I go to, and this Monday’s offered ten “yogic tips to survive the holidays.” I was expecting breathing, and peace, and love, and then I got this:

2. Be thankful you were reincarnated as yourself and not some one else. Everyone else is holding space for you this time around so you don’t have to be them. Be thankful to them for being themselves so you don’t have to.

I’m in no way an expert, but I don’t think cosmic gloating is really the point of a spiritual practice?

Anyway, happy Thanksgiving–I have a lot to be thankful for (including being reincarnated as myself, apparently). I think I’ll take the rest of the week off from posting and make fruitcake and marmalade instead.

Details: cheap wool/acrylic (with a weird chemical smell) from fabric.com and a 70’s pattern that I had in my collection. The plaid is not a perfect match across the front (see how the yellow stripe is flipped?) because I always forget about grain when I cut things crosswise. Oh well; it’s still festive.

Kicking off the holiday week, here’s one of my favorite food writers being insightful about Thanksgiving:

So many other people seem to dread turkey […] In my opinion the poor turkey is merely a scapegoat for the mire of conflicted feelings flooding our psyches at holiday time. It is hard to divorce turkey from the expectations of family, the sibling rivalries, the unspoken resentments, the secret rages that occur in even the happiest families. Add to this the exhaustion of travel or the exhaustion of preparing to welcome traveling relatives, and even the tenderest, juiciest turkey may be as sawdust.

She then goes on to call just a turkey breast “turkey devoid of drama.” I wonder what she’d have to say about Tofurkey!

1. I knew I shouldn’t have put up that chicken post yesterday–not only was it a classic example of a First-World Problem, I went to PetSmart at lunch wearing my leather shoes and bought Toby a supply of cat food made of those same sad chickens. Let she who is without a captive cat cast the first stone against the chicken-eaters.

2. Speaking of being a hypocrite–I mean, speaking of complicated, multifaceted issues–there is scientific proof why cheese is so delicious: it contains trace amounts of morphine. Cheese really is dairy crack!

3. I don’t have room for it now and I won’t have a house by Christmas, but I found the tree I want someday. I’ll pretend I live in Whoville!

I had a post all written last week about factory-farmed eggs and chickens, and I ended up not posting it. Because I don’t want to be Angry Vegetarian Girl, and because it was too sad. (An anonymous animal rights group in Israel put a hidden camera in a battery farming operation so you can see chickens stuffed three to cage without enough space to stand up straight, let alone stretch out their wings–on a live feed. It is, needless to say, DEEPLY DISTURBING.)

Battery cages are what the vast majority of chickens producing eggs and meat live in–the hidden camera shows the norm for chicken farming, not some horrifying violation. I find it deeply disturbing, yes–which is why I don’t eat chicken and buy “beyond cage free” eggs–but I find it really depressing, too: I may care about chicken welfare, but most of the world either likes $1 chicken sandwiches too much or really believes that food animals are too stupid to notice how they’re raised.

Obviously, I disagree. (I’ve always liked the Jeremy Benthem quote,”The question is not, ‘Can they reason?’ nor, ‘Can they talk?’ but rather, ‘Can they suffer?’ “) So I was pretty happy to read an article in Time yesterday about animal intelligence. In a nice, non-Angry Vegetarian way it pointed out that yes, animals should probably be treated better because they’re actually not too stupid to feel things:

If animals can reason — even if it’s in a way we’d consider crude — the unavoidable question becomes, Can they feel?…And what does it say about how we treat them?

[…]No matter what any one scientist thinks of animal cognition, nearly all agree that the way we treat domesticated animals is indefensible — though in certain parts of the world, improvements are being made . The European Union’s official animal-welfare policies begin with the premise that animals are sentient beings and must be treated accordingly.Ultimately, a mainstream article like this is going to change more opinions than radical hidden cameras in chicken farms or earnest blog posts from vegetarians. But I dare you to read up on chicken farming anyway.

I’m pretty happy being a cat lady with Toby, but I heard this song on KRCL Sunday and it made me feel a little wistful. Because who doesn’t want someone to bring them booze to ease their suffering from an incurable illness?

…wait, is that just me? Um, I like the singer’s voice and he’s very in tune. That’s what I meant to say. Yeah.

My last two projects have been extra fiddly and, in the case of the pants, not even that wearable. Clearly, it was time for some craft glue.It’s a coin purse! Except I think I need to adjust the size of any future purses because it seems a little big for coins but a little small for anything else. (I made my own pattern for the purse frames from this tutorial, where you can also find frames.)The sewing and turning are finished in an episode of Saint Paul Sunday, and then there’s just waiting for the glue to dry. Fun with glue, fun with contrasting colors. Maybe I need to order more purse frames?

As you know, I’ve been looking at houses for many months now, telling myself that I’ll let go of things like new construction, a second bathroom, a finished basement, and lately even a garage in order to live in my preferred area–close to downtown and easily walkable and bikeable.

That area features houses ranging from 1890 to about 1940–and I’ve seen the whole range, with different degrees of upkeep. I was looking at one from 1919 a couple weeks ago and the voice of reason in my head spoke up.

It said, “Karen, keep your life from turning into Grey Gardens in 20 years. Buy a house that won’t immediately fall apart around you.” And then it said, “You don’t walk or bike that much anyway–and it’s not like you’re moving to Daybreak.”

So that’s why I’m checking out two houses built in 2007 tonight. They’re south of 21st South (gasp) but they have things like powder rooms, and insulation, and bathrooms that are attached to your bedroom (!), and garages that are attached to your house (!!).

Did you know that most newer houses have ALL of those things BUILT IN? Can you imagine?